ASCENSION

The magic in Polaris had, over the years since the Great Awakening, intensified. The many Gembound in the cave, the power that now concentrated in the area, now triggered something that had long laid dormant. A section of wall, resonating with the power of the Spire, at last hummed strongly enough to make itself known once more.

A shiver, a low rumble, and the thin sheet of stone that had gradually covered this area, with the mineral drip of millennia, crumbled away. A series of concentric rings was now left visible: each unique, each humming with its own potential. Each held a seal, a sigil, at some point on its circumference.



The outer ring appeared to be made of wood--undoubtedly ancient, and yet its bark seemed almost alive.
The second ring was a paler, mottled grey stone, damp to the touch, with a glass-like receptacle half-full of water lodged within it.
The third hummed strongly, pure potential trapped within its confines, its vibrations audible.
The fourth held within its sigil a single seed, the green promise of a sprout visible at its tip.
The fifth was warm to the touch, damp, and red; it seemed almost to pulse of its own accord.
The sixth was similar, yet threaded through with what looked like bone, and cool and still, as though dead.
The seventh throbbed with a life of its own, a paler green-grey, and porous.
The eighth ring seemed to be of simple, pure, strong rock.
The ninth was pure black, seeming to absorb the light of Polaris.
The tenth was metallic, shining and smooth despite its aeons of age.
The eleventh swelled with barely-contained pressure, and felt as though it needed but a push to burst.
The center seal, and the smallest, resonated with otherworldly energy, and felt as though--with its pale violet eye watching any who approached--it promised hidden knowledge.

The quest "Ascension" has begun. It is open for any characters to join at any time.

In her now lonely wanderings, Wilder found herself living, once again, near the center of Polaris - not far from the Spire where she practiced, every day, to calm herself before the tremendous energy that the center of magic gave out every day. Sometimes she blacked out, but she was getting better and better at keeping herself conscious, even when standing close to the giant crystal.

She was in one such moments of meditation, holding herself steady and awake in front of the Spire when a low rumbling caught her attention. She turned her head, although the wall was far enough away that she couldn't see from here. Forgetting about her training for now, she stood and trotted towards the source of the rumbling curiously, stopping a few feet from the wall, eyes wide as she observed the rings.

She slowly got closer, nose twitching, in case there was any strange scents attached to the stone, and raised a paw, running it over the center, and trying to activate magic - to call up the history of this place and see where it had come from. She couldn't remember ever seeing something like this before - perhaps it was ancient!

The incident with the rock occurred rather close by to where Seshat was stuck, jerking her for a moment out of her slumber. Eyes snapped open and she instinctively tried to turn her head to see - only to remember that she could not. It wasn't really disappointing, though, she'd grown used to it by now, not being able to turn and see things, but her body, apparently, wasn't quite ready to accept it.

Instead of trying more, she pointed her eyes down, towards where a large, smooth crystal rested at her feet - a gift from one of the many that had visited her - and lifted it with her mind, holding it out in front of her until it reflected her face. She turned it around a little bit, trying to use it as a mirror to see what was going on around her, straining to follow it with her eyes, until an image appeared on the surface - of a wall, not far away, and rings that she could barely see through the reflection. "Hey?" she called out into Polaris - hopefully someone was nearby. "What's going on over there?"

Condoling at my loom

It had been hard to travel this far.

She was puny, after all, but the plants let her travel, so she slowly did, towards where magic thrummed in the air. There was... something, though it was too, too big for her odd eyesight to make out, but there was no denying the odd vibrations that ran through her exo-skeleton, and she reached for her own magic, a half-wilted rose, bud still closed, forming beneath her legs, raising her only a few inches up so she could try and get a closer look, breathy voice whispering "What are you?"

She was new, and this was strange. At least to her--perhaps this was normal?

♥

It'd been... some time since he left Canis for any reason; his daughter was keeping him at home most of the time, and so was reorganizing the Bonebound, figuring out training schedules - and... a muted worry. Worry that if he stepped beyond the bones, beyond the wicked gates, he'd see someone he didn't want to.

Aure'd flown and flown, his internal compass seemingly guiding him to Polaris - perhaps for magical practice, a way to vent through the sheer power of the Spire's proximity. Not searching. Not drawing nearer to where he knew that Wilder would be.

He nearly choked as he coasted in, spotted a small, black figure in the gathering. The wyvern's wings nearly had him jackknifing into a stalactite, what with how quickly he turned to go away. Throat running dry, almost constricting, he looked off into the distance. I'm not ready, his mind begged, even as it rationalized that she would be lost in the crowd, that he wouldn't see her once he'd landed to see.

The Bone King - for bones sake! - shouldn't let his fear hold him up. It should ground him.

A whistling, almost wheezing, breath echoed from him as he made his approach. (Wilder wasn't skulking out of sight, not hiding with a sinister infection.) On cue, his magic ebbed out, seeking more than just the vague clusters of mycelia that plagued all of the Caves. He looked at every figure down yonder, finding nothing but the sweet relief of cleanliness. Even she was still uninfected.

Slowly, carefully, he alighted, taking a few wary steps away from the door as Wilder inspected it. Gaze turned away from her pointedly (as much as he wanted to stare and make sure he knew exactly where she was at all times) he asked quietly, "what... is this?" Voice coming out much more... subdued and pitchy than expected, he swallowed. Each of the rings had sigils. The one - still looking alive and inscribed with the perfect image of a fungal bloom - looked most... familiar. Like he should drive it to rot and decay.

Aure swallowed again, chirping more confidently, "is it - a door?"

Was this a good idea?

Probably not.

And so it was perfect for the three eyed kitten. She was curious, and curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, didn't it? So she trotted towards the sounds, the voices, eyes brought and a smile on her lips, bouncing with a child's energy, wanting to know what was happening.

She hadn't been allowed to eat the Spire again, so this was the next best thing!


So she skidded towards the... whatever it was, eyes going wide when she saw another cat, not caring that there was a wyvern of all things, and a feathery one at that, bolting to bounce up to Wilder, "You're a cat too!"

Way to state the obvious, Poco.

@Wilder

What was that?

Eridanus had been his home for quite a while.

But then there had been the fire, and he'd had to tuck himself away, the fire throwing up thermals that had thrown him this way and that, crackling and screaming leaving him to fly blindly.

So he'd made his way to Polaris, where he could be safe, where there were less plants, less trees, and it would be harder for flames to burn and spread.

And he was always interested in learning, always curious, always willing to trade for it. He was not able to do much, not with his lack of sight, but learning? Oh, he could do that, and had learned quite a bit in his lifetime. So he took to his wing, flew silently through the air, lighting down carefully and listening, tilting his head side to side in the way only an owl could, the voices calling out, "A door?" he echoed, turning to look at Aure with his star-filled eyes, "Is what a door?"

@Aure

Wilder's magic gently resonated with the center seal. Brief imagery flickered through her mind: large, bulky creatures pressing the final seal into place, shoving it into the center. Other, lurking shapes waiting close by. And then her magic seemed almost to backfire, flashing out and thrusting her back, away from the rings with a painful sear through her mind--brief, like lightning.

Soumak's magic, so close to the rings, returned her the gentlest vibration from the fourth seal, and then a light shove that nearly, but not quite, toppled her off her flower. Perhaps the distance had some effect, but the magic thrusting at her was not so strong as what had hit Wilder.

Those who had cast farther off, indeed, felt nothing.

The seals remained, humming and pulsing with potential... but thus far unchanged.

@Wilder (Seshat) @Soumak (Un Poco Loco, Galactic) @Aure

Polaris was one of his favorite caves. Just being here energized him, and the cave was just pretty, with all the glowing crystals, fungi, and mosses. He was somewhat nervous, being alone without anyone he knew. The rumble of stone caught his attention, so he made his way over to the carved circles a number of other gembound had gathered around.

The ninth ring, pitch black, unnerved him. It reminded him of the darkness of the tunnel leading to the altar. Maybe I can actually break through this darkness. He thought, preparing himself to cast the spell. Instantly, a narrow beam of white light formed, focusing the surrounding light into a beam of light so bright it was almost hard to look at. He smiled, proud at himself for finally casting a spell correctly.

"Spoken Words."
Thoughts

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coding by wulf for template purposes

"Hey! Can you talk too?" Pip said, perched upon a cluster of glowing purple crystals, hanging upside down. Pip twisted her head. Trying to decipher what noise if any the crystals made. It was bigger than her, and Pip was half sure anything bigger than her could talk. There were lots of talking trees. Like Morpho! Pip couldn't exactly remember how she got here. She couldn't remember where Morpho was either. Or what Morpho looked like. But she knew Morpho existed! They were big, and looked k It looked kinda like her! Maybe the pulsing was its way of talking!

"I can talk lots! Does flashing make you talk?" It gave a dull pulse. Pip did the mental equivalent of frowning. "Maybe you don't feel like talking." Pip tapped her chin. Chatter further off caught her attention, and she flicked her head away, facing the direction of the noise. That was a lot of talking. Did all talkers know each other? Maybe those talkers knew Morpho! Pip turned back to the crystal. "Sorry, I gotta go. I'll come back later, okay! Let me know if you see Morpho!"

She heard a voice. This one was closer! Pip could find it! Pip traveled to where she'd heard the voice originate from. Hopping from crystal to ground to grass to crystal. A cycle, until she climbed a particularly big crystal. This one didn't glow. But it looked like her! It was purple, just like her! Its purple seemed lighter than hers, and Pip thought--oh!

It had eyes! Wet ones! They reflected in a strange crystal, held up in front of Seshat's face. Pip climbed onto the head of the creature, leaning over it's eyelids Maybe this one could talk! Maybe both could talk! Perhaps this was where the noise came from!

"Hi, I'm Pip! Are you a talker? I am a talker, yep! Were you the one to ask what is happening? I don't know either. Oh!" Pip clapped her tiny forepaws together, as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "I can check! I'll be right back!" This was, however, given that Pip didn't forget to come back to Seshat. Pip crawled to the side of Seshat's face, and launched herself off the ear. Pip would help! Pip would find the place where the big talkers gathered!

Pip followed the sounds and the vibrations, over to a gathering of large trees. Or gembound! Maybe they were gembound, Pip had trouble keeping track of it. They were staring at some...large rings? Pip didn't know what the rings did, but she Climbed upon the wall, placing her pair of claws on the wall. She settled on a spot of hard rock, comfortable. It let her blend in! Excited by this discovery, Pip activated her magicka. She began to vibrate like a bee, her crystal like growths tinkling like windchimes.